System and method for providing users feedback regarding their reading habits

ABSTRACT

Content items are provided to users and their interactions with the provided content items are recorded in respective user profiles. The users&#39; interactions thus recorded over time are analyzed to determine if the users have a balanced information intake. A reading habit score is determined for a user based various criteria. The user&#39;s reading habit score is analyzed to determine if the user&#39;s habits indicate a balance in the user&#39;s content consumption. If the user&#39;s reading habit score indicates an imbalance in the user&#39;s content consumption, suggestions are provided to the user for achieving a more balanced reading habit and thereby improving the user&#39;s reading habit score.

BACKGROUND

Modern content providing systems are designed to provide content tousers via various electronic devices such as computers, tablet devicesand smartphones. Unlike traditional print-based content providingentities such as books or newspapers which were designed only for oneway communication, modern content providing devices are configured fortwo way communications. When a user receives content at an electronicdevice, the user's review of the provided content can be monitored andthe related information can be transmitted back to the content providerby the electronic devices. This led to the development of contentpersonalization systems which were configured to monitor user feedbackand provide content tailored to users' preferences.

SUMMARY

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing usersfeedback regarding their reading habits and suggesting actions forimproving tem. A processor executable method is disclosed in oneembodiment. The method comprises providing, by a processor, a pluralityof content items to a user and receiving, by the processor, selectionsof the content items made by the user. Information associated with eachof the user selected content items are recorded in a user profile. In anembodiment, the information comprises at least a content category ofeach of the user selected content items. In one embodiment, theinformation recorded in the user profile is analyzed and a final scoreassociated with the user's reading habits is determined by the processorbased on the analysis. In an embodiment, the final score is indicativeof a diversity of content consumed by the user. In one embodiment thediversity of the user's reading habits is determined by the processorbased on a minimum threshold number of categories in which the user is afrequent consumer of information. The frequency of the user'sinformation consumption is determined based on a minimum number ofcontent items consumed by the user in each of the content categories inone embodiment. In one embodiment, the user's final score is comparedwith a predetermined threshold. Based on the comparison, recommendationscan be provided to the user for improving his or her final score. Adashboard of the user's reading habits is generated. The dashboardcomprises the final score, a frequency of the user's content consumptionand categories associated with the user's content consumption. Thedashboard thus generated is transmitted for display to the user.

In one embodiment, the dashboard indicates, one or more of the contentcategories in which the user frequently consumes content. The dashboardcan also indicate, one or more of the content categories in which theuser infrequently consumes content. Content items are suggested forconsumption by the user in the categories where the user infrequentlyconsumes content. In one embodiment, a comparison of the users' scorewith an average score of the user's social network is also included. Thedashboard is also configured to facilitate sharing of the final score bythe user with other users.

A computing device comprising a processor and a storage medium fortangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor isdisclosed in an embodiment. An apparatus comprising at least oneprocessor and a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon programlogic for execution by the processor is disclosed. The program logiccomprises providing logic, executed by the processor, to provide aplurality of content items to a user. Receiving logic, is executed bythe processor, for receiving selections of the content items made by theuser. Information associated with each of the user selected contentitems is recorded in a user profile by recording logic executed by theprocessor. In an embodiment, the information comprises at least acontent category of each of the user selected content items. Analyzinglogic is executed by the processor, to analyze the information recordedin the user profile and based on the analysis, a final score associatedwith the user's reading habits is determined wherein, the final score isindicative of a diversity of content consumed by the user. Generatinglogic, is executed by the processor, to generate a dashboard of theuser's reading habits. In an embodiment, the dashboard comprises thefinal score, a frequency of the user's content consumption andcategories associated with the user's content consumption. Transmittinglogic is executed by the processor, to transmit the generated dashboardto the user. In an embodiment, a diversity of the user's reading habitsis determined by the processor based on a minimum threshold number ofcategories in which the user is a frequent consumer of information. Theprocessor executes indicating logic to indicate on the dashboard, one ormore of the content categories in which the user frequently consumescontent. Suggesting logic, is also executed by the processor, to suggestcontent items for consumption by the user in the categories where theuser infrequently consumes content.

A computer readable storage medium comprising processor-executableinstructions is disclosed in an embodiment. The instructions cause theprocessor to provide a plurality of content items to a user, receiveselections of the content items made by the user, record informationassociated with each of the user selected content items in a userprofile, the information comprises at least a content category of eachof the user selected content items. The instructions further cause theprocessor to analyze the information recorded in the user profile anddetermine based on the analysis, a final score associated with theuser's reading habits, the final score is indicative of a diversity ofcontent consumed by the user. The processor also generates a dashboardof the user's reading habits such that the dashboard comprises the finalscore, a frequency of the user's consumption of content and categoriesassociated with the user's content consumption. The dashboard istransmitted to the user by the processor. In an embodiment, the computerreadable medium of claim further comprises instructions that cause theprocessor to compare the final score of the user with predeterminedthreshold criteria and to provide recommendations for the user toimprove the final score based on the comparison.

In an embodiment, the instructions cause the processor to include in thedashboard, a comparison of the users' score with an average score of theuser's social network. In an embodiment, the dashboard is configured bythe processor to facilitate sharing of the final score by the user withother users.

These and other embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art with reference to the following detailed description and theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawing figures, which are not to scale, and where like referencenumerals indicate like elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an information system that providescontent and comprising an reading habit scoring module in accordancewith one embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the reading habit scoring module inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows the schematic diagram of the scoring module in accordancewith one embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows the detailed illustration of the recommending module inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the dashboard module in accordancewith one embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart that details the steps of the methodology todetermine if a user's reading habit is balanced and to provide relatedrecommendations in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart that details the steps of the methodology ofproviding content recommendations to the user in accordance with oneembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart that shows the steps of methodology to determinethe reading habit score in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a dashboard generated in accordancewith one embodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates internal architecture of a computing device inaccordance with embodiments described herein; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a client deviceimplementation of a computing device in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments.Subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different formsand, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to beconstrued as not being limited to any example embodiments set forthherein; example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative.Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matteris intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may beembodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly,embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software,firmware or any combination thereof (other than software per se). Thefollowing detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be takenin a limiting sense.

In the accompanying drawings, some features may be exaggerated to showdetails of particular components (and any size, material and similardetails shown in the figures are intended to be illustrative and notrestrictive). Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the disclosed embodiments.

Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter are described below withreference to block diagrams and operational illustrations of methods anddevices. It is understood that each block of the block diagrams oroperational illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams or operational illustrations, can be implemented by means ofanalog or digital hardware and computer program instructions. Thesecomputer program instructions or logic can be provided to a processor ofa general purpose computer, special purpose computer, ASIC, or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, implements the functions/acts specified inthe block diagrams or operational block or blocks.

In some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in theblocks can occur out of the order noted in the operationalillustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession can in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks can sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Furthermore, the embodiments of methods presented anddescribed as flowcharts in this disclosure are provided by way ofexample in order to provide a more complete understanding of thetechnology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations andlogical flow presented herein. Alternative embodiments are contemplatedin which the order of the various operations is altered and in whichsub-operations described as being part of a larger operation areperformed independently.

For the purposes of this disclosure the term “server” should beunderstood to refer to a service point which provides processing,database, and communication facilities. By way of example, and notlimitation, the term “server” can refer to a single, physical processorwith associated communications and data storage and database facilities,or it can refer to a networked or clustered complex of processors andassociated network and storage devices, as well as operating softwareand one or more database systems and applications software which supportthe services provided by the server.

For the purposes of this disclosure a “network” should be understood torefer to a network that may couple devices so that communications may beexchanged, such as between a server and a client device or other typesof devices, including between wireless devices coupled via a wirelessnetwork, for example. A network may also include mass storage, such asnetwork attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), or otherforms of computer or machine readable media, for example. A network mayinclude the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one ormore wide area networks (WANs), wire-line type connections, wirelesstype connections, cellular or any combination thereof. Likewise,sub-networks, which may employ differing architectures or may becompliant or compatible with differing protocols, may interoperatewithin a larger network. Various types of devices may, for example, bemade available to provide an interoperable capability for differingarchitectures or protocols. As one illustrative example, a router mayprovide a link between otherwise separate and independent LANs.

For example, a network may enable RF or wireless type communication viaone or more network access technologies, such as Global System forMobile communication (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSMEnvironment (EDGE), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced,Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n,or the like. A wireless network may include virtually any type ofwireless communication mechanism by which signals may be communicatedbetween devices, such as a client device or a computing device, betweenor within a network, or the like.

A communication link may include, for example, analog telephone lines,such as a twisted wire pair, a coaxial cable, full or fractional digitallines including T1, T2, T3, or T4 type lines, Integrated ServicesDigital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wirelesslinks including satellite links, or other communication links, such asmay be known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, a computingdevice or other related electronic devices may be remotely coupled to anetwork, such as via a telephone line or link, for example.

A computing device may be capable of sending or receiving signals, suchas via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable of processing orstoring signals, such as in memory as physical memory states, and may,therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devices capable of operating as aserver may include, as examples, dedicated rack-mounted servers, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, set top boxes, integrated devices combiningvarious features, such as two or more features of the foregoing devices,or the like. Servers may vary widely in configuration or capabilities,but generally a server may include one or more central processing unitsand memory. A server may also include one or more mass storage devices,one or more power supplies, one or more wired or wireless networkinterfaces, one or more input/output interfaces, or one or moreoperating systems, such as Windows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux,FreeBSD, or the like.

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meaningssuggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning.Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in anotherembodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a differentembodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matterinclude combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part. Ingeneral, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage incontext. For example, terms, such as “and”, “or”, or “and/or,” as usedherein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least inpart upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” ifused to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B,and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here usedin the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as usedherein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describeany feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may beused to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristicsin a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again,may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a pluralusage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term“based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey anexclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence ofadditional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, dependingat least in part on context.

The evolution of communication networks and electronic devices hasresulted in the shifting of users from traditional paper-based mediasuch as books and newspapers to electronic devices. This facilitated thecontent providers to not only provide content but tailor the content toeach user's preferences so that two users may receive different contentfrom the same content provider. For example, two users who receive adaily email of the latest headlines in the national/international newsfrom a personalized content providing system may be provided links todifferent articles presenting the same news item from differentviewpoints. In view of their ability to appeal to their audience whichresults in increased usage and the ease with which electronic contentcan be manipulated, personalization systems are extensively incorporatedinto almost all electronic content providing systems, such as newsaggregators, search engines, ad-servers and the like.

As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news andsearch results) to users' personal tastes, there is a dangerousunintended consequence. The users are trapped in a “filter bubble” andas a result, they don't get exposed to information or viewpoints thatcould challenge or broaden their world view. This can ultimately proveto be bad for the users' personality and bad for democracy in general.Various embodiments described herein are configured to make people awareof the filter bubble by analyzing their information consumption habitsor reading habits and displaying the results of such analysis.Additionally, people can be rewarded for consuming diverse informationrather than highly personalized content that agrees with their worldview. Thus, users are provided with at least some depersonalized contentthat covers a broad range of topics or content categories or differentviewpoints.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an information system 100 that providescontent and comprising an reading habit scoring module 110 in accordancewith one embodiment. The information system 100 includes at least aserver 106, a plurality of client or user devices such as user device102 and user device 104 and a network 108 that enables exchange ofcommunications between the server 106 and client devices 102, 104. Itmay be appreciated that only two client devices 102, 104 are shown forbrevity and that any number of client devices can communicate with theserver 106 via the network 108. The server 106 comprises a contentingestion module 120 that receives content from various content sourcessuch as content source 1, content source 2 and provides the receivedcontent to the users at the various user or client devices 102 and 104.In an embodiment, although the content received from the various contentsources may not be personalized to unique user preferences, it can yetbe selectively forwarded to the user devices 102 and 104. For example,the received content can be verified for compliance with any format,quality or content restrictions imposed by the content ingestion module102 prior to being forwarded to the users at their respective devices102, 104.

In an embodiment, the content received from the various content sourcescan comprise a plurality of content items each of which can comprise oneor more of text, audio, video, or other interactive data. The receivedcontent items are analyzed by the contextual analysis module 130 inorder to associate various applicable metadata with the content prior toforwarding to the users. By the way of illustration and not limitation,each of the received content items can be analyzed by the contentanalysis module 130 in order to classify them under appropriate contentcategories as will be detailed further infra, recognize entities withineach of the content items and for verifying if the content items conformto the format and content rules implemented by the content ingestionmodule 120. For those content items which may be missing the necessarytags, content classification data or other metadata, the contextualanalysis module 130 can process such content items to include theappropriate metadata. In an embodiment, the metadata can aid inmonitoring user interaction with the content items.

The content items 116 thus processed by the contextual analysis module130 are provided to the users at their various user devices 102, 104 andthe like. By the way of illustration and not limitation, the userdevices can include desktop and laptop computers, tablet devices,smartphones, wearable computing devices or other interactivecommunication devices currently available or to be invented. Userinteractions with the provided content items such as but not limited tovarious URL (Universal Resource Locator) events, click, tap or view,delete or other events indicative of user interaction with the contentsuch as voting, forwarding a particular content item to contacts aremonitored by the reading habit scoring module 110. The data related tosuch user events 118 are stored by the reading habit scoring module 110in the respective user profile stored in the user profiles database 140.In an embodiment, the user profiles database 140 can include profiles ofthe various users receiving content from the content ingestion module120. The information in the user profiles may include data that isexplicitly provided by the user such as user attributes which mayinclude information regarding the devices at which the user desires toreceive content and information implicitly gathered by the reading habitscoring module 110 based on the user behavior or user interactions withthe provided content items. In an embodiment, the reading habit scoringmodule 110 can record attributes of the user behavior such as but notlimited to, the number of content items that a particular user isreading, the frequency at which the user accesses the provided content,the various categories associated with the content items reviewed by theuser and the type of user event associated with the content itemsaccessed by the user.

The user data thus stored on the user profiles database 140 is analyzedby the reading habit scoring module 110 in order to determine whetherthe user's reading is indicative of a balanced reading habit. In anembodiment, a user's reading habit is determined to be balanced if theuser routinely consumes content in different categories. In anembodiment, a balanced reading habit is detected based on the differentcategories that are of interest to the user, the number of content itemsthe user reviews in each category and the frequency at which the userreviews the content items of different categories. An aggregated scoreindicative of the balance in each of the users' reading habit isgenerated and conveyed to the user via the user dashboard 112 and thedashboard 114. In an embodiment, when a user's score is lower than apredetermined threshold value, the reasons for the low score can beanalyzed and appropriate recommendations can be provided to the user forimproving the score. The recommended actions can be based on one or moreof the aforementioned factors that are used in computing the user'sscore. The recommendations can include categories, articles and/orinformation sources which the user can employ in order to improve theuser's score.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the reading habit scoring module 110in accordance with one embodiment. This comprises a recording module202, scoring module 204, recommending module 206 and dashboard module208. When a user interacts with the provided content 116, details of thevarious user interactions 118 are received and are recorded for furtheranalysis by the recording module 202. For example, if the user reviewsparticular content items of the provided content 116, such user actioncan be recorded within the user profile 140 in addition to othermetadata of the content item such as but not limited to, the category ofthe content item, the title of the content item, the time at which theuser reviewed the content item, the author or source of the contentitem, keywords or relevant terms associated with the content item. Auser's other interactions with the content items such as whether theuser forwarded the content item to a contact or whether the user markedthat he or she liked/did not like the content item are also recorded bythe recording module 202 in the user profile database 140. The recordedinformation is accessed by the scoring module 204 in order to generate ascore for the user. The score is indicative of whether the user isconsuming balanced information. A high score is indicative of a balancedreading habit whereas a lower score is indicative that the user iseither consuming less information or that the user's reading habit isnot balanced and is skewed in favor of one or more content categories.In an embodiment, the scoring module 204 determines the user's scorebased on the frequency of the user's access of the provided content 116,the amount of content or the number of content categories that the userreviews within a predetermined time period, such as, a week.

The details of the score including the users score under the variouscriteria as detailed herein are accessed by the recommending module 206.In an embodiment the recommended module 206 compares the user's totalscore with a predetermined threshold in order to determine therecommendations to be made to the user. In an embodiment if the usersscore equals or exceeds the threshold, no recommendations are providedto the user and the user is informed that he or she has balanced readinghabit. In an embodiment recommendations may be provided to the user formaintenance of the user's balanced reading habit. On the other hand, ifthe user's score is indicative that the user lacks balance in theinformation intake, the recommending module 206 is further configured toanalyze the user's score in order to determine the recommendations thatcan be duly provided to the user. In an embodiment if the user's scoreindicates that the user is consuming less content, then the recommendingmodule 206 can recommend that the user consume more content undercategories currently existing in the user's profile. In an embodiment ifthe user's score indicates that the users is consuming contentcategories less than a recommended/predetermined minimum number, itindicates that the users diet is not balanced. Therefore, therecommending module 206 can recommend other content categories for theuser to review. In an embodiment the other content categories can beselected based on categories popular across the user segments. Infurther embodiments, the recommending module 206 makes recommendationsof the particular content that the user can review in order to improvethe user scores. Thus, the recommending module 206 is configured toprovide the recommendations based on analysis of the user's score.

The recommendations from the recommending module 206 are provide to thedashboard module 208. The dashboard module 208 is configured to generatea graphical user interface such as, an interactive dashboard 112/114,that conveys the users score and associated recommendations to the useras will be described further herein.

FIG. 3 shows the schematic diagram of the scoring module 204 inaccordance with one embodiment. The scoring module 204 comprises of aquantity module 302, a frequency module 304 and a diversity module 306.In an embodiment, the reading habit score is composed of threecomponents which, in an embodiment, are weighted equally. The threecomponents depend upon the number of articles reviewed by the user asdetermined by the quantity module 302, the diversity of the articlesread or reviewed by the user as determined by the diversity module 304and the frequency with which the user reads these articles as determinedby the frequency module 306.

The quantity module 302 monitors the number of articles that a userreads under each of the categories. The category to which each of thearticles or content items reviewed by the user and other details of thearticles such as, the information source are recorded by the recordingmodule 202. Based on the recorded metadata, the quantity module 302 candetermine the number of articles that the user reads under each of thecontent categories. Thus, the quantity module 302 is configured todetermine the article_read_score of a user. The article read scoredetermines if the user has read enough information within a given timeperiod for example. In an embodiment, the articles_read_score isdetermined by the quantity module 302 by dividing the number of articlesread by the user with the ideal number of articles that the user shouldread. In an embodiment, the score can range from 0 to 100 where 0 is thelowest score and 100 is the highest score that can be achieved by theuser. A score of 100 indicates that the user has reviewed the idealnumber of articles if not more. For example,

articles_read_score = (num_articles_read_week /ideal_num_articles_read_week) * 100 if (articles_read_score > 100) {articles_read_score = 100 }

Thus, if the user reviews 90 content items in a week, and the ideal orrecommended number of content items to be reviewed is 100, then:

articles_read_score of the user=(90/100)*100=90.

It can be appreciated that the details of the scoring methodologies arediscussed herein only by the way of illustration and not imitation andother scores may be used in other embodiments for determining thequantity of content reviewed by the users.

The diversity module 304 determines the diversity of the informationconsumed by the user. In an embodiment if the user reads articlesassociated with later number of categories the user is determined tohave a diverse information diet. The diversity score as determined bythe diversity module 304 and can range from 0-100, zero being the lowestscore and 100 being the highest score. A user who reviews content fromonly one content category or only one content source can have adiversity score of 0. In an embodiment, a user who reviews equalquantity of content from all content categories can achieve a score ofhundred. In an embodiment, a user who reviews a predetermined minimumquantity of content from a predetermined, minimum number of diversecontent categories can achieve a score of hundred. For example, a usermay achieve a score of hundred if the user reads an article under eachof five categories. In an embodiment the categories for high diversitycan be based on categories that are popular among the large usersegments. Again, it may be appreciated that formula for diversity scoreis shown herein only by the way of illustration and not limitation andthat other formula or methodologies for determining diversity of auser's information diet may also be used by the reading habit scoringmodule 110 in accordance with embodiments described herein. In anembodiment, the diversity_score can be determined as:

worst_case_standard_dev=standard_deviation (worse_case_data)

actual_standard_dev=standard_deviation (actual_data)

diversity_score=((worst_case_standard_dev−actual_standard_dev)/worse_case_standard_dev))*100

A worst case example of a user's category distribution is shown inbelow:

Category Distribution Entertainment 100% Education 0% Beauty 0% Natureand Environment 0% Sports 0%

worst_case_standard_dev=standarddeviation(worse_case_data)

worse_case_standard_dev=standard_deviation({100, 0, 0, 0, 0})

worse_case_standard_dev=44.72136

As seen from the above category distribution, the user has no balance inhis/her reading habit and exclusively consumes content belonging only tothe Entertainment category and does not review content from othercategories and therefore the user's diversity score is low. In thiscase, the user will be recommended that he or she should consume certainminimum amount of content from other content categories. On the otherhand shown below is the distribution of a user who has a balancedreading habit as compared to the other user.

Category Distribution Entertainment 20% Education 30% Beauty 10% Natureand Environment 10% Sports 30%

actual_data={20, 30, 10, 10, 30}

actual_standard_dev=standard_deviation (actual_data)

actual_standard_dev=standard_deviation({20, 30, 10, 10, 30})

actual_standard_dev=10

diversity_score=((44.72136 10)/44.72136)*100)

diversity_score=77.639

The user consumes a varied content diet and hence, the user achieves ahigh diversity score of 77 percent. The diversity module 304 thusdetermines the diversity in the users' information based on the variouscategories associated with the content that the user reviews.

The frequency module 306 determines the frequency with which the userreviews content. The frequency score is indicative how often the userreviews the content provided to him. This is the third component of thereading habit score. In an embodiment,

frequency_score=(num_days_read/7)*100

In an embodiment the frequency score can range from 0 to 100 wherein auser who achieves a score of hundred would have periodically reviewedthe recommended number of content items in a given time period. A userwho has not reviewed any articles within a pre-determined time period,for example, a week would achieve a score of 0. If the user readarticles three days of the week, then the user's frequency score wouldbe 42% as shown below:

num_days_read=3 // User read articles three days this week

frequency_score=(3/7)*100

frequency_score=42.85

As described supra, the reading habit score of a user is based at leaston three component scores, the article score, the diversity score andthe frequency score. Therefore, further recommendations can be made tothe user regarding his or her reading habits based on the values of thethree component scores of a user. FIG. 4 shows the detailed illustrationof the recommending module 206 in accordance with one embodiment. Itcomprises of an analysis module 402, an identification module 404 and asuggestion module 406. The reading habit score as generated by thescoring module 204 is received by the recommending module 206. Based onthe reading habit score and the components of the reading habit scorethe recommending module 206 can provide recommendations of the variousactions that the user can take in order to improve his/her reading habitscore. In an embodiment the analysis module 402 of the recommendingmodule 206 analyzes the various components of the reading habit scores.In an embodiment, the analysis module 402 compares each of thecomponents of the reading habit score to a respective pre-determinedthreshold score in order to determine if the user meets the recommendedcriteria for that component. For example each of the article_read_score,the diversity_score and the frequency_score can be compared withrespective pre-determined thresholds.

The components wherein the user does not meet the criteria areidentified and transmitted to the identification module 404. In anembodiment the identification module 404 identifies actions that can betaken by the user for improving the score. In an embodiment if the userdoes not meet the criteria associated with the quantity under a certaincategory then such deficiency is identified via the users arearticle_read_score by the analysis module 402. This information istransmitted to the identification module 404 which identifies that theuser should read more articles or review more content associated withcertain content category. In an embodiment if the user does not meet thecriteria associated with diversity, then such deficiency is identifiedvia the user's diversity_score. The identification module 404 thereforeidentifies that the user should read articles or review content fromadditional content categories. In an embodiment if the user does notmeet the criteria associated with frequency, then such deficiency isidentified via the user's frequency_score and the identification module404 identifies that the user should read articles or review content morefrequently.

Based on the actions from the identification module 404, the suggestionmodule 406 provides suggestions for one or more of content items orcontent categories for the user to review in order to improve his/herreading habit score. In an embodiment, the suggestion module 406 cansuggest for user review additional categories selected from the top N (Nis a whole number) categories popular among all the users of theinformation system 100. In an embodiment, the suggestion module 406 cansuggest for user review, additional content among the content categoriescurrently being reviewed by the user. It may be appreciated that if morethan one component of the reading habit score of a user fails to meetthe predetermined criteria, the recommending module 206 cancorrespondingly recommend more than one action to the user. In anembodiment if a user's reading habit score meets all of the recommendedcriteria no recommendations may be provided by the recommending module206.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the dashboard module 208 inaccordance with one embodiment. The dashboard module 208 comprises aninput module 502, a generation module 504 and a social networking module506. The input module 502 receives the reading habit score from thescoring module 204 and the latest recommendation from the recommendingmodule 206. The information thus received is provided to the generationmodule 504. In an embodiment the generation module 504 provides thenumerical value of the reading habit score to the user. In addition, thegeneration module 504 can also generate a textual description of theusers reading habit score, as will be detailed further herein. In anembodiment, the generation module 504 graphs the user's consumption ordiet under the various categories and provides an interactive dashboardto the user. The dashboard can comprise links for content itemsrecommended to the user in order to improve the users score.Furthermore, the generation module 504 receives input from the socialnetworking module 506 for inclusion in the dashboard. In an embodimentthe user can elect to share his/hers reading habit score with his/hersocial network. In addition to sharing their own reading habit score,the users can monitor other users' diet scores. Thus the informationsystem 100 as detailed herein provided further interactivity and alsoprovides opportunities for social contact between the users and inaddition to providing balanced information diet. In an embodiment, theinformation system 100 can reward a user for achievements related to thereading habit score. For example, a user can be provided with rewardssuch as but not limited to, additional bonus material, access to premiumservices, discounts or coupons. Users may be rewarded for achievementssuch as but not limited to, maintaining a high reading habit score for acertain time interval, reaching high numbers for the reading habit scoreas compared to the user's social network or the user population of theinformation system, or for reaching particular thresholds with respectto one or more of the article_read_score, the diversity_score and thefrequency_score. In an embodiment, a user who achieves certainmilestones in terms of the reading habit score can receive virtualbadges or titles that can be displayed within the user's social network.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart 600 that details the steps of the methodology todetermine if a user's information diet is balanced and to providerelated recommendations in accordance with one embodiment. The methodbegins at 602 wherein content is received from the various contentsources. At 604, the received content is provided to the users of theinformation system 100. In an embodiment, users may be provided withpersonalized content based on the user's explicit choices or based onthe behavior of users that was implicitly observed by the informationsystem 100 in accordance with methodologies known in the art. In anembodiment, users can be provided with content that is not personalizedto the user's preferences but is generally provided to all the users ofthe information system 100. In an embodiment, the users may be providedwith content associated with a plurality of content categories. In anembodiment, the plurality of content categories can include education,beauty, arts and entertainment, politics and government, nature andenvironment, technology and electronics, society and culture, health,finance, family and relationships, science, hobbies and activities, foodand cooking, business, sports, transportation, humanities and the like.It may be appreciated that the content categories are listed herein onlyby the way of illustration and not limitation and that there may beother definitions of the content categories. Content items can becategorized for example, based on further subdivisions in theaforementioned content categories, formats of the content items such asvideo, audio, text or even particular file formats and authors orsources of content.

At 606, the user interactions with the provided content 116 arereceived. The received user interactions and associated contentattributes are recorded in respective user profiles are shown at the608. In an embodiment, user interactions such as reading the contentitem, forwarding the content item to contacts, providing the review oropinion on the content item, deleting the content item or otherinteractions are recorded in respective user profiles. In addition,content attributes or metadata to content item the user interacted withis also recorded in respective user profile at 608. At 610, the readinghabit score of the user is determined in accordance with embodimentsdescribed herein. At 612, the user's reading habit score is analyzed andrecommendations are generated for forwarding to the user. The readinghabit score and the recommendations thus generated are provided to theuser via an interactive dashboard as shown at 614. This can help theuser to determine if he or she is receiving a balanced reading habit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart 700 that details the steps of the methodology ofproviding content recommendations to the user in accordance with oneembodiment. The method begins at 702 wherein the quantity of contentconsumed by the user is recorded. At 704, the frequency of contentconsumption of the user is recorded. In an embodiment, the frequency ofcontent consumption can be determined based on the time(s) at which theuser reviews or reads the provided content 116. The categoriesassociated with the various content items that the user interacted withare recorded as shown at 706. At 708, it is determined if each of thequantity, frequency and categories associated with the content reviewedor read by the user meets respective threshold criteria. If yes, themethod moves to 710 wherein it is determined that the user has perfectreading habit score which implies that the user is consuming a balancedreading habit and hence no recommendations are required. Therefore, themethod terminates on the end block. If it is determined at 708 that theuser's reading habit score does not meet the threshold criteria, themethod proceeds to step 712. At step 712, the components of the readinghabit score that do not meet the threshold criteria are determined inaccordance with embodiments described herein. Based on the determinationmade at step 712, the recommendations are generated at step 714 forimproving the user's reading habit score. By following therecommendations the user can ensure that he or she receives a morebalanced information diet.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart 800 that shows the steps of methodology todetermine the reading habit score in accordance with one embodiment. Themethod begins at 802 wherein the article_read_score is determined. Thisindicates if a user has read adequate quantity of content in a giventime interval. In an embodiment, the maximum score that can be achievedby a user is 100. At 804, the diversity_score of the user's informationdiet is determined. The diversity_score determines if the user isconsuming content from a plurality of content categories. In anembodiment the diversity_score can range from 0 to 100 such that a userwho regularly consumes content from only one content category receives alow score whereas a user who routinely consumes content from differentcontent categories can achieve a higher score. At 806, thefrequency_score of the user is determined. The frequency_score indicateshow often the user reads articles provided by the information system100. At 808, the article_read_score, the diversity_score and thefrequency_score are combined to generate the reading habit score of theuser. In an embodiment, all the component scores are weighted equally inthe reading habit score.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a dashboard 900 generated in accordancewith one embodiment. The dashboard 900 shows that the user has amoderately balanced reading habit of news. In addition, the dashboard900 includes suggestions 904 on the categories of informationrecommended to the user. The dashboard 900 comprises a textualdescription 908 of the user's reading habit score 906. The user'sreading habit score 906 is also conveyed via a graph 920. The dashboard900 also conveys that the user reads 97 articles a week as shown at 910seven days a week as shown at 914. The user's score of 88 percent shownat 912 indicates that the user has a fairly balanced informationconsumption habit. The dashboard 900 also includes category distributionsection 916 that shows the content categories reviewed by the user at922 and the amount of content consumed under each category is showngraphically at 924. It also shows that the user predominantly readsarticles from the entertainment category. The user also consumes contentfrom the politics category. However, the user's consumption habitsassociated with content under sports, business and finance warrantimprovement. Moreover, the dashboard 900 shows that the user is notconsuming content related to health category. Accordingly at 904, it issuggested that the user should review content from these categories inorder to improve his or her reading habit score 906. It may beappreciated that the details of the dashboard 900 are described only bythe way of illustration and not limitation and that other elements, suchas social networking or gamification elements can be incorporated intothe dashboard 900 in accordance with embodiments described herein.

As shown in the example of FIG. 10, internal architecture of a computingdevice 1000 includes one or more processing units (also referred toherein as CPUs) 1012, which interface with at least one computer bus1002. Also interfacing with computer bus 1002 are persistent storagemedium/media 1006, network interface 1014, memory 1004, e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM), run-time transient memory, read only memory (ROM),etc., media disk drive interface 1008, an interface 1020 for a drivethat can read and/or write to media including removable media such asfloppy, CD-ROM, DVD, etc., media, display interface 1010 as interfacefor a monitor or other display device, keyboard interface 1016 asinterface for a keyboard, pointing device interface 1018 as an interfacefor a mouse or other pointing device, and miscellaneous other interfaces1022 not shown individually, such as parallel and serial portinterfaces, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, and the like.

Memory 1004 interfaces with computer bus 1002 so as to provideinformation stored in memory 1004 to CPU 1012 during execution ofsoftware programs such as an operating system, application programs,device drivers, and software modules that comprise program code orlogic, and/or computer-executable process steps, incorporatingfunctionality described herein, e.g., one or more of process flowsdescribed herein. CPU 1012 first loads computer-executable process stepsor logic from storage, e.g., memory 1004, storage medium/media 1006,removable media drive, and/or other storage device. CPU 1012 can thenexecute the stored process steps in order to execute the loadedcomputer-executable process steps. Stored data, e.g., data stored by astorage device, can be accessed by CPU 1012 during the execution ofcomputer-executable process steps.

Persistent storage medium/media 1006 is a computer readable storagemedium(s) that can be used to store software and data, e.g., anoperating system and one or more application programs. Persistentstorage medium/media 1006 can also be used to store device drivers, suchas one or more of a digital camera driver, monitor driver, printerdriver, scanner driver, or other device drivers, web pages, contentfiles, metadata, playlists and other files. Persistent storagemedium/media 1006 can further include program modules/program logic inaccordance with embodiments described herein and data files used toimplement one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a client deviceimplementation of a computing device in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure. A client device 1100 may include a computingdevice capable of sending or receiving signals, such as via a wired or awireless network, and capable of running application software or “apps”1110. A client device may, for example, include a desktop computer or aportable device, such as a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a displaypager, a radio frequency (RF) device, an infrared (IR) device, aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer, a set top box, a wearable computer, anintegrated device combining various features, such as features of theforgoing devices, or the like.

A client device may vary in terms of capabilities or features. Theclient device or a user device can include standard components such as aCPU 1102, power supply 1128, a memory 1118, ROM 1120, BIOS 1122, networkinterface(s) 1130, audio interface 1132, display 1134, keypad 1136,illuminator 1138, I/O interface 1140 interconnected via circuitry 1126.Claimed subject matter is intended to cover a wide range of potentialvariations. For example, the keypad 1136 of a cell phone may include anumeric keypad or a display 1134 of limited functionality, such as amonochrome liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying text. Incontrast, however, as another example, a web-enabled client device 1100may include one or more physical or virtual keyboards 1136, massstorage, one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, globalpositioning system (GPS) 1124 or other location identifying typecapability, Haptic interface 1142, or a display with a high degree offunctionality, such as a touch-sensitive color 2D or 3D display, forexample. The memory 1118 can include Random Access Memory 1104 includingan area for data storage 1108.

A client device 1100 may include or may execute a variety of operatingsystems 1106, including a personal computer operating system, such as aWindows, iOS or Linux, or a mobile operating system, such as iOS,Android, or Windows Mobile, or the like. A client device 1100 mayinclude or may execute a variety of possible applications 1110, such asa client software application 1114 enabling communication with otherdevices, such as communicating one or more messages such as via email,short message service (SMS), or multimedia message service (MMS),including via a network, such as a social network, including, forexample, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, or Google+, to provideonly a few possible examples. A client device 1100 may also include orexecute an application to communicate content, such as, for example,textual content, multimedia content, or the like. A client device 1100may also include or execute an application to perform a variety ofpossible tasks, such as browsing 1112, searching, playing various formsof content, including locally stored or streamed content, such as,video, or games (such as fantasy sports leagues). The foregoing isprovided to illustrate that claimed subject matter is intended toinclude a wide range of possible features or capabilities.

For the purposes of this disclosure a computer readable medium storescomputer data, which data can include computer program code that isexecutable by a computer, in machine readable form. By way of example,and not limitation, a computer readable medium may comprise computerreadable storage media, for tangible or fixed storage of data, orcommunication media for transient interpretation of code-containingsignals. Computer readable storage media, as used herein, refers tophysical or tangible storage (as opposed to signals) and includeswithout limitation volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for thetangible storage of information such as computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data. Computer readablestorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM,flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other physical ormaterial medium which can be used to tangibly store the desiredinformation or data or instructions and which can be accessed by acomputer or processor.

For the purposes of this disclosure a system or module is a software,hardware, or firmware (or combinations thereof), process orfunctionality, or component thereof, that performs or facilitates theprocesses, features, and/or functions described herein (with or withouthuman interaction or augmentation). A module can include sub-modules.Software components of a module may be stored on a computer readablemedium. Modules may be integral to one or more servers, or be loaded andexecuted by one or more servers. One or more modules may be grouped intoan engine or an application.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and systems ofthe present disclosure may be implemented in many manners and as suchare not to be limited by the foregoing exemplary embodiments andexamples. In other words, functional elements being performed by singleor multiple components, in various combinations of hardware and softwareor firmware, and individual functions, may be distributed among softwareapplications at either the client or server or both. In this regard, anynumber of the features of the different embodiments described herein maybe combined into single or multiple embodiments, and alternateembodiments having fewer than, or more than, all of the featuresdescribed herein are possible. Functionality may also be, in whole or inpart, distributed among multiple components, in manners now known or tobecome known. Thus, myriad software/hardware/firmware combinations arepossible in achieving the functions, features, interfaces andpreferences described herein. Moreover, the scope of the presentdisclosure covers conventionally known manners for carrying out thedescribed features and functions and interfaces, as well as thosevariations and modifications that may be made to the hardware orsoftware or firmware components described herein as would be understoodby those skilled in the art now and hereafter.

While the system and method have been described in terms of one or moreembodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure need not belimited to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures. The present disclosure includes any and all embodiments ofthe following claims.

What is claimed is: 1) A method comprising: providing, by a processor, aplurality of content items to a user; receiving, by the processor,selections of the content items made by the user; recording, by theprocessor, information associated with each of the user selected contentitems in a user profile, the information comprising at least a contentcategory of each of the user selected content items; analyzing, by theprocessor, the information recorded in the user profile; determining, bythe processor based on the analysis, a final score associated with theuser's reading habits, the final score is indicative of a diversity ofcontent consumed by the user; generating, by the processor, a dashboardof the user's reading habits, the dashboard comprises the final score, afrequency of the user's consumption of content and categories associatedwith the user's content consumption; and transmitting, by the processor,the dashboard to the user. 2) The method of claim 1 wherein a diversityof the user's reading habits is determined by the processor based on aminimum threshold number of categories in which the user is a frequentconsumer of information. 3) The method of claim 2 further comprising:determining, by the processor, the frequency of the user's consumptionof information based on a number of content items consumed by the userin each of the content categories. 4) The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: indicating, by the processor, in the dashboard, one or moreof the content categories in which the user frequently consumes content.5) The method of claim 3, further comprising: indicating, by theprocessor, in the dashboard, one or more of the content categories inwhich the user infrequently consumes content. 6) The method of claim 5,further comprising: suggesting, by the processor, content items forconsumption by the user in the categories where the user infrequentlyconsumes content. 7) The method of claim 1, further comprising:including in the dashboard, by the processor, a comparison of the users'score with an average score of the user's social network. 8) The methodof claim 1, further comprising: configuring, by the processor, thedashboard to facilitate sharing of the final score by the user withother users. 9) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, bythe processor, the plurality of content items from at least twodifferent content sources. 10) The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: comparing, by the processor, the final score of the userwith predetermined threshold criteria; providing, by the processor,recommendations for the user to improve the final score based on thecomparison. 11) An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; astorage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for executionby the processor, the program logic comprising: providing logic,executed by the processor, to provide a plurality of content items to auser; receiving logic, executed by the processor, to receive selectionsof the content items made by the user; recording logic, executed by theprocessor, to record information associated with each of the userselected content items in a user profile, the information comprising atleast a content category of each of the user selected content items;analyzing logic, executed by the processor, to analyze the informationrecorded in the user profile; determining logic, executed by theprocessor, to determine based on the analysis, a final score associatedwith the user's reading habits, the final score is indicative of adiversity of content consumed by the user; generating logic, executed bythe processor, to generate a dashboard of the user's reading habits, thedashboard comprises the final score, a frequency of the user'sconsumption of content and categories associated with the user's contentconsumption; and transmitting logic, executed by the processor, totransmit the dashboard to the user. 12) The apparatus of claim 11,wherein a diversity of the user's reading habits is determined by theprocessor based on a minimum threshold number of categories in which theuser is a frequent consumer of information. 13) The apparatus of claim12, further comprising: determining logic, executed by the processor, todetermine the frequency of the user's consumption of information basedon a number of content items consumed by the user in each of the contentcategories. 14) The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:indicating logic, executed by the processor, to indicate on thedashboard, one or more of the content categories in which the userfrequently consumes content. 15) The apparatus of claim 11, furthercomprising: suggesting logic, executed by the processor, to suggestcontent items for consumption by the user in the categories where theuser infrequently consumes content. 16) A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium, comprising instructions, which when executed bya processor cause the processor to: provide a plurality of content itemsto a user; receive selections of the content items made by the user;record information associated with each of the user selected contentitems in a user profile, the information comprising at least a contentcategory of each of the user selected content items; analyze theinformation recorded in the user profile; determine based on theanalysis, a final score associated with the user's reading habits, thefinal score is indicative of a diversity of content consumed by theuser; generate a dashboard of the user's reading habits, the dashboardcomprises the final score, a frequency of the user's consumption ofcontent and categories associated with the user's content consumption;and transmit the dashboard to the user. 17) The computer readable mediumof claim 16, further comprising instructions that cause the processorto: include in the dashboard, a comparison of the users' score with anaverage score of the user's social network. 18) The computer readablemedium of claim 16, further comprising instructions that cause theprocessor to: configure the dashboard to facilitate sharing of the finalscore by the user with other users. 19) The computer readable medium ofclaim 16, further comprising instructions that cause the processor toreceive the plurality of content items from at least two differentcontent sources. 20) The computer readable medium of claim 16, furthercomprising instructions that cause the processor to: compare the finalscore of the user with predetermined threshold criteria; providerecommendations for the user to improve the final score based on thecomparison.